00:00 Former Trinidad and Tobago fast bowler Daniel Sinclair continues to do his part by coaching
00:05 youngsters at the Tableland Sports Academy, which is very close to his home.
00:09 Sinclair is quite pleased with the way the program is running, hence the reason for the
00:13 large turnout.
00:14 "Yes, definitely cricket was much easier for me to get into because, as I said, I've played
00:20 for Trinidad and I think it's very important to give back to the community.
00:25 And so far, cricket has been going really well for us as well.
00:28 If you look at our Facebook page, we speak highly of our academy.
00:32 And I think what was said, the parents, when they come here, even the children, they actually
00:38 see that what we said we are actually doing it here at the academy.
00:41 And we just want to set a benchmark so that others can follow."
00:46 Sinclair, who is the president of the Tableland Sports Academy, enjoys working with the children
00:51 and says the chemistry between coach and players is second to none.
00:56 What also impresses him is their work ethic.
00:58 "To be honest, I think I actually enjoy it more than playing because every session, most
01:05 of the time they reach before me.
01:07 And that says a lot.
01:08 And I think that gives me the encouragement to make sure what I am doing is beneficial
01:12 for them.
01:13 And I think thus far, again, no complaints.
01:16 I actually look forward to coming here.
01:19 And even the parents, they come to me and say that their children, they are eager to
01:23 get here on the training morning.
01:25 So again, that in itself shows that we are actually doing something really good at the
01:29 academy and it will be very disappointing, again, if we don't see some of our kids on
01:33 the youth national teams."
01:35 The academy caters for cricket and football, with Sinclair in charge of both disciplines.
01:41 Back in 2016, the cricket program catered for children under 10.
01:46 Due to a need to cater for age groups higher up, an under 23 program is what Sinclair has
01:51 been running at the academy, with all the players actually being under 19.
01:55 "Most of these guys that are going to play for South East, probably two guys will be
02:00 representing South, but that's OK.
02:01 As we said earlier, our aim, one of our aims again is just to better cricket, not just
02:06 in South East, but throughout Trinidad.
02:10 And I think this is a great stepping stone for us to start here."
02:14 There is no turning back for the youngsters who have made progress at the academy.
02:19 One of them happens to be batting all-rounder Rahul Ali, who also bowls medium pace.
02:25 How long have you been with this academy and what sort of improvements have you seen in
02:28 your game?
02:29 "I was at this academy for approximately three months and my fitness and general skill
02:35 performances improved a lot and dramatically because we work at a high performance academy.
02:40 What I'm trying to achieve in the academy is just my general game itself, my general
02:44 game and hoping to reach a more national level some day forward."
02:49 It's left to be seen if any of the players will one day go on to represent Trinidad and
02:53 Tobago and maybe the West Indies.
02:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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